Place:Big Flats, Adams, Wisconsin, United States

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Big Flats is a town in Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,018 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Big Flats is located in the town.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The town of Big Flats was created on November 15, 1861, and the name was changed from Brownsville.

Big Flats tornado

On August 27, 1994, the town of Big Flats was hit by an F3 tornado. It touched down at 8:41 P.M. CDT and was on the ground for 16 minutes. The tornado's path was long and wide. The tornado killed two people and injured 22. It destroyed 24 homes, caused major damage to 8, and light to moderate damage to 160. It destroyed the Big Flats Fire Department, the Town Hall, and a thrift store. Seventy cows were crushed when a barn roof and an upper floor containing 16,000 bales of hay collapsed. The tornado caused $1 million in damage.^[1]

Cottonville Forest Fire

Big Flats was the site of a devastating wildfire, the Cottonville Forest Fire, on May 5, 2005. It started when a man lit a fire within a fire ring constructed of concrete blocks, attempting to burn off dead grass. The fire jumped out of the ring and began burning the grass in the surrounding area. Smoke from the fire was spotted by the fire tower in Rome's Dyracuse Park.

The fire spread in a north-northeast direction,^[2] along Roche A Cri Creek. Smoke from the fire was visible from away.^[3] About 177 firefighters from 20 fire departments responded. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) firefighters came from as far away as Hayward. Two DNR planes used to drop foam flew in from Minnesota. By the time it was contained 11 hours later, the flames had spread northward about . It burned approximately , destroying 30 residences. Approximately 60 other out-buildings were also destroyed.^[2]

It was the biggest forest fire in Wisconsin since the Ekdall Church and Oak Lake Fires burned more than in Washburn and Burnett counties April 21–22, 1980.^[3]

Thomas Barnhart was charged with setting a fire which became a forest fire, a misdemeanor.^[2] He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to a local jail term of 90 days, which was stayed, with two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and $150 per month of restitution which is applied to uninsured expenses of the victims. On November 13, 2006, the total amount of restitution owed was set at $1,436,504.

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